


The Summer of Change

by zoyasnikolai



Category: Nikolai Series - Leigh Bardugo, The Grisha Trilogy - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Artist Alina Starkov, Best Friends, College, F/F, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Interns & Internships, LGBTQ Character of Color, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Modern Era, Politics, Rivalry, Romance, Sibling Rivalry, tamar kir-bataar - Freeform, tolya yul-bataar - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-15 13:41:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29559957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zoyasnikolai/pseuds/zoyasnikolai
Summary: It's the summer before the last year of college. Zoya Nazyalensky, a competitive and hard-working political science major, is ready for her internship at the government office. She hopes to show her skills and secure a job when she graduates. There's only one problem, her best friend Nikolai Lantsov is also accepted to the program and has the same goals as her. They're both deserving of the reward, but as someone else joins the program, new complications arise and secrets resurface, threatening the past to unfold, and everything that Zoya and Nikolai have worked hard for stands on thin ice, including their relationship.Life in D.C. has always involved politics and complications but this summer, everything, the past, present and future get twisted into a dark storm, ready to blow through the city and everyone in it.FanFiction of King of Scars and the triumvirate in the modern-day. This focuses on the relationship between Zoya and Nikolai (and their friends) but also involves a political plot that impacts their relationship and individuality.
Relationships: David Kostyk/Genya Safin, Nikolai Lantsov/Alina Starkov, Nikolai Lantsov/Zoya Nazyalensky, Tamar Kir-Bataar/Nadia Zhabin, tolya Yul-Bataar/Original Character
Kudos: 7





	The Summer of Change

**Author's Note:**

> This will not have any NSFW content or smut. Romantic or intimate scenes will be fade-to-black.  
> Please be nice, I am a new writer. I think I'm going to do alternating chapters that switch from Nikolai and Zoya's perspective but not completely sure yet!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An introduction into Zoya's life.

### Chapter One – Can you lick any slower?

**THE SWEAT DRIPPED** down the back of her neck as she silently cursed herself for forgetting to bring a bottle of water.  
  
_God forbid this man turn on the A.C._  
  
Trying her best to focus on the last exam of the semester, she pushed her hand up from the base of her neck, letting the motion of her hand provide a small breeze for her neck. Zoya has always loved her long dark hair but right now she wished for nothing more than to be rid of it.  
  
A grin breaks on her face as she finishes checking over her answers.  
  
––––  
  
The sun beats down on her dark skin as she walks toward the bus station with her phone pressed to her ear. After a three-hour exam, sitting on a crowded, smelly, noisy bus is something that Zoya desperately wants to avoid but the traffic in D.C. is always insane and impossible to maneuver through. With politicians who always have places to be at, excited tourists taking pictures of everything, annoyed locals, and students in a rush, the words calm or peace have never been uttered in this city.

“Hi! You’ve reached Genya Safin and I’m obviously not available right now so leave a–,” Zoya cuts off the automated message and sends her a text instead.  
  
_Just finished my exam. Going home to shower. Are we still on for later?_  
  
Zoya looks up from her phone as she approaches the bus stop and tries not to groan. Maxim Kirigan is sitting on the bench, talking to an elderly woman. Maxim is a nice guy, he really is, he’s smart, rich, always polite, a subtle flirt but also a nervous trainwreck around Zoya. Zoya has always known that she’s attractive and she wields that beauty gracefully like a weapon and shield and as much as she loves to break hearts, Maxim is not one of them.  
  
Zoya’s thoughts are interrupted when Maxim looks up and notices her, “Hey! How’d your exam go?”  
  
Zoya shrugs, “It was great. I thought I might run out of time because of the essay question but I managed to finish in time. What about you?”  
  
Maxim makes a face, “It was...okay,” starting to laugh, he continues, “Yeah, let's just leave it at okay.”  
  
The bus pulls up around the corner, saving Zoya from trying to continue the conversation. She pulls out headphones and grabs the single window seat, trying to drown out everything and everyone else.  
  
Cleveland Park is a small neighbourhood with smaller houses. Most students don’t live here, especially since it’s so far from the Georgetown campus, but the quiet and simple neighbourhood seemed perfect to Zoya and friends. She walks up to the white colonial-style house with a small verandah and tiny front yard. For the past three years, this place has been home, one that she shares with three of her closest friends, Genya, Tamar, and Tamar’s twin brother, Tolya.  
  
Since Tolya’s exam won’t end for another hour, Genya is at the new station and Tamar is probably with her friend Nadia, Zoya begins to peel her clothes off as soon as she steps through the front doors. She toes off her shoes and jogs upstairs to the shower. Zoya lets the cool water run over her hair and body, taking out her blue hair ribbon and placing it on the counter near the skin.  
  
With a pink towel around her body and dripping hair, she sifts through her closet, looking for a pastel yellow Delevan blouse to pair with the light blue high-waisted jeans sitting on the edge of her bed. She pulls on the jeans and blouse, dries her hair and softly brushes it out. Zoya jogs back downstairs and grabs her wallet, throwing it in her plain light brown, faux leather shoulder bag. She spins around to make sure the stove is off and the house alarm is on then rushes to put on her flats just as a car honk sounds from the outside.  
  
She walks out of the house, squinting her eyes against the afternoon sun and pulls the door shut behind her. A black Mercedes Benz is sitting in her small driveway, and behind the wheel is Nikolai Lantsov.  
  
A frown deepens against Zoya’s lips as she pulls open the passenger side door, “I was planning on taking the bus.”  
  
Nikolai shoots her a grin as he pulls out of the driveway, “I know, but today has been tiring because of the exam and I know you had to take a bus home after the exam, so I thought I’d be nice and give you a ride,” he shrugs.  
  
“When have you ever been nice just because you want to be? Never. Spit it out.”  
  
“Spit what out?”  
  
Zoya gives him a look, “I don’t know but I know you have something to tell me or something to ask of me.”  
  
Nikolai comes to a stop at a red light and pulls his lips inside between his teeth, turning his head towards her with a blank stare.  
  
“Nikolai.”  
  
He sighs as he takes off at the green light, “My uncle let me take a peek at the finalized list for the internship program and…”  
  
Zoya turns her face towards him, “And what?”  
  
“And, Irina got chosen too.”  
  
_Of course_  
  
Irina Morozov, Aleksander Morozov’s younger sister. Aleksander had been a leader at a youth government program when Zoya was in high school, he’d mentored her, taught her everything he knew so she could take up the position of leader one day when he had moved on to better work. For the longest time, he’d been the one Zoya looked up to, but not anymore. Not after everything that happened.  
  
_Everything he did, then skipped town._  
  
Zoya always felt saddened by how Irina was left alone to deal with the aftermath and to somehow uphold the Morozov family name. But that didn’t sway her annoyance with Irina because Irina has always been up against Zoya and Nikolai. Zoya, Nikolai, and Irina have always been the top students, in their high-school and Georgetown University, but it goes deeper than academic rivalry because Irina refuses to not think of her brother when she sees Zoya and Nikolai, she keeps it between them like a wall made of concrete and uses it as her driving force to compete with Zoya and Nikolai for _everything_.  
  
15 minutes later and Nikolai pulls into the small ice-cream shop parking lot. Zoya holds out the store door and slides in after Nikolai. Their friends, Genya, David, and Tolya are standing to the side, near a circular bar table.  
  
The store has dark brown wooden planks on the wall and a white ceiling with abstract designs. Three square pendant lights hang from the ceiling over the pastel pink counter. The rest of the store is covered in big floor-length windows and circular bar tables, soft music playing from the high speakers to fill in the gaps of soft conversation.  
  
“Hey!”  
  
Zoya goes around the table and stands beside Genya, trying to sneak a look at her phone screen.  
David looks away from the big menu behind the counter and pushes up his white-grey glasses, a stark contrast against his brown skin, “We were just about to call you two. Have you heard from Tamar or Nadia?”  
  
Nikolai shakes his head as his eyes pass over the menu, “Nope. But they’re likely on their way right now.”  
  
Genya cups a hand over her phone screen, trying to block Zoya from looking and asks “Zoya what do you think of green earrings? I think they’d look good on you.”  
  
Zoya shoots Genya a sharp look, “I already told you, I don’t want anything for my birthday. I’m most likely going to be too busy with the internship to even celebrate.”  
  
Zoya is saved from another session of Genya pestering her when Tamar and Nadia walk up to the table. Zoya notices Tamar’s dishevelled short hair and Nadia’s soft red cheeks and tries to resist a smirk.  
  
_They are so obvious._  
  
Tolya groans, “ _Finally_. I’m ordering first, I haven’t eaten anything since breakfast.”  
  
They all stand in line and order their ice-cream. Zoya chooses a scoop of each buttered pecan and moose tracks on a waffle cone with two pretzel sticks skewered through the scoops. They sit at the turquoise booth on the left side of the store, beside the windows.  
  
David got a cup of mint chocolate instead of a cone, he lifts the spoon to his mouth before asking, “Genya, what did you get for the bonding question on the chemistry exam?”  
  
Zoya turns her head towards the window. She knows she did well on all of her exams, she worked hard and was confident but she didn’t wish to spend any more time thinking or talking about the exams. Her eyes fall upon a little girl with dark, coiled hair and dark skin. She’s wearing a baby blue dress and is currently scanning a row of stuffed toys. She seems so focused on the task that it brings a small smile to Zoya’s face and then her heart pangs against her chest when a dark-skinned man holds out his hand and picks her up to place on his shoulders.  
  
It’s not often that Zoya thinks of her family or lack thereof, she buries herself in work, school, friends, and men so she never has time to. But sometimes, times like these, her thoughts slip away, threatening to carry her to a dark place. She refuses to be that 10-year-old girl again wishing, hoping, promising to trade anything for a family, for a father who never left her and for a mother who cared about her more than some drugs.  
  
The little girl in front of the Disney Store giggles loudly as her father picks her up, reaching her small arms out for a stuffed toy.  
  
Zoya feels a dull pain on her shin and looks away from the window to Nikolai who just kicked her under the table. She shoots him a glare and returns two kicks to his shins. She knows what he’s trying to do, it’s what he always does, he pulls her away, he saves her from her own thoughts, from getting too lost in her own mind. She’s thankful for it, but that kick still hurts.  
  
Zoya tunes back into the conversation just in time to hear Nadia propose they walk over to the Dupont Circle, “Come on! It’s Friday and there’ll be a small band there later tonight. We can walk around and do some shopping, spend the whole day together _relaxing_. We haven’t done that in a while.”  
  
David drops his head on Genya’s shoulder and tilts his head to look up at her, “I’m exhausted from exams but if you want to go…”  
  
Genya rests her cheek against his soft curls, “We should go, it’ll be a nice break from sitting inside a library all day.”  
  
“That settles it then, let's go,” Tolya pushes back his chair and goes to throw out his garbage. Nadia and Tamar slide out of the booth from beside Zoya and walk towards the door. Zoya looks down at her almost finished ice-cream and tries to finish it as she slides out of the booth too.  
  
“Geez Zoya, can you lick any slower?” Tamar smirks, proud of herself for the stupid innuendo joke, and turns around to push open the door.  
  
Nikolai falls in step beside her and Genya. Genya jerks her head towards two small boys, one who’s holding up a paper that says _HOW TO NOT BE THE STUPIDEST PERSON IN THE ROOM_ while his brother wrestles him for it. “Nikolai, we should sign you up for some lessons.”  
  
Zoya smirks and slowly nods, “I think it’d be very helpful.”  
  
Nikolai rolls his eyes, “I haven’t done anything recently.”  
  
Genya and Zoya share a look and snort, “Keyword _recently_.” Zoya continues, “Remember last year when I got into your car and you were going crazy because you couldn’t find the car keys? You were looking under the seats and under the mats but the keys were in the ignition the whole time?”  
  
Genya bursts out laughing, “You’re unbelievable!”  
  
Nikolai frowns, “Hey! It was a stressful day.” He speeds up his gait to catch up with Tamar and Tolya, making Genya laugh harder.  
  
She sobers up and runs her eyes over Zoya, “Have you picked out your outfit for Monday?”  
  
“No, not yet”  
  
“Oh, let me help! Please let me help–” Before Genya could turn this into a never-ending chant Zoya cuts her off, “Of course you can help, we’ll go through my closet tomorrow.”  
  
Zoya was planning to ask for Genya’s help anyway. Zoya has a great sense of style but a second opinion never hurts, especially when Genya is a pro at all things dress-up. Her job at the news-station is as a make-up artist, helping news anchors and guest speakers get ready before they go in front of the camera. People sometimes underestimate Genya because of it but they don’t realize how even one wrong shade of eyeshadow can send the wrong message about someone. Growing up in D.C. means understanding how important your image and the messages your clothes and make-up send out are.  
  
Zoya follows Genya into _Parquette’s Boutique_ and looks through the window to see Nikolai sitting on the edge of the Dupont’s Circle water fountain with Tamar and Tolya beside him. She moves her eyes to the left and sees David on the phone with someone just as Nadia walks into the boutique too.  
  
And that’s how they spend the day, doing their own thing but never straying far from each other. They gather around the Dupont Circle when darkness starts to fall and dance to the soft music of a live band, basking in each other’s presence and happiness. Zoya can’t help but grin, a gesture that doesn’t happen often, and for a night she feels happy, happy that her exam went well, happy that she has these idiots in her life, and happy about her new internship.

**Author's Note:**

> I'd love to hear your thoughts so leave a comment! Sorry about any typos!


End file.
